jon: good morning to you, happy tuesday. jokes aside there are some brand new developments in the gop race for the white house. good morning, once again, i'm jon scott. jenna: hi, everybody, i'm jenna lee. we are here in the fox newsroom. we're exactly four weeks away from the very first presidential contest in the nation, the iowa caucuses. newt gingrich way out in front in a brand new "washington post/abc news poll" we'll look at right now. jon: the former house speaker leads with 33% of the likely caucus-goers surveyed. his closest competitors, mitt romney, ron paul, tied for second place. each as 18%. rick perry, michele bachmann and rick santorum round out the top six. jenna: chief political correspondent carl cameron is live in washington with more on this carl, let's talk a little bit where newt gingrich is. now does he stand as we look at numbers in terms of these early states? >> reporter: clearly he has a huge lead in iowa and that

is supported by poll after poll and more will come out in next couple days to validate that. organizationally he as issues and has issues shoes in the tv ad war campaign. ron paul is about to launch a campaign specifically against gingrich in iowa. he is polling at a tie second place to mitt romney in caucus state. mr. paul spent ads more than anybody else with a ad specifically targeted at newt gingrich and supported hillary clinton in a private mandate, individual mandate years ago. nancy pelosi and climate change as well as the $37 million that some of newt, inc.'s entities collected from health care industry. not as lobbyist but a consultant. those will be on paid television starting today. having said that, organizationally gingrich has catching up to. he has momentum but translating that into the boots on the ground that can be a bit of an issue. the campaign acknowledged they're a little behind the curve.

mr. gingrich expected to to happen later in the campaign. take the other side of the coin and recognize he wasn't prepared to manage this momentum at this point. he has a lot of catching up to do and we're a month exactly from the first caucus. >> translating any of this momentum into boots on the ground but translating that into money and actual cash, fund-raising what about that for newt gingrich? >> reporter: when you look at all the other candidates surged up to challenge to get ahead of mitt romney they have have big, big albeit shored fund-raising booms. gingrich has his fund-raising increase but he has to aggressive tap into big money. owe will hold a $1,000 a plate fund-raiser in washington. all the candidates are coming for a forum in d.c. tomorrow. that will be opportunity to talk to some on the k street. problem is gingrich is running a reformer outside attack on washington. when it comes to establishment big bucks around the country, mitt romney has most of the big endorsements and big

donors pouring money into his coffers. gingrich is behind the curve organizationally but so far ahead of the pag in the polls it really creates a riddle what happens in the first few states. jenna: we will see if our next guest can tackle that riddle. our next guest is pretty good at this as well. carl cameron, thank you very much. jon has more. >> i usually don't ask riddles of karl rove but let's pose this one to him. we heard from carl cameron newt gingrich doesn't have a lot of organization in iowa but he is way out in the front in the polls. let's ask the former senior advisor to president george w. bush, also a fox news contributor, karl rove. why is that, karl? >> well, he's captured the national momentum and, as carl cameron said he is in the lead. if you look at the real clear politics average of the recent polls they average out newt 28, paul, 17, mitt romney six. so there is a, you know, an 11-point lead for newt today.

now the problem with organization is this. if you don't have organization, it matters on the margin. that is to say, take the real clear politics average going into the 2008 iowa caucuses. mike huckabee was at 30%. he ended up at 4% i believe on -- 34% on caucus night. if you have an organization it helps add to your numbers about. i suspect, for example, ron paul will outperform his numbers in the state and if newt gingrich doesn't have strong organization he may underperform and then we get into the question of expectations. if in the polls newt is leading by 10 or 11 or 12 points going into the iowa caucuses and doesn't win by that margin people are going to say, well, he didn't meet his mark. that is a challenge for somebody who has not built organization. it is not just iowa. it is also in new hampshire. for example i was talking to a keen observer of new hampshire politics who said newt's headquarters recently opened. there are three staffers. and there is no telephone.

in order to call it you had to know the cell phone number for the campaign manager of the state n ohio, we have a test tomorrow. you have to file for the ohio primary ballot tomorrow there is a real question whether newt gingrich will get the congressional districts signatures he needs to qualify. lack of organization matters. right now newt has got the advantage of momentum or newt-metum we ought to call it. organization will matter in caucus states like iowa. jon: another poll out of the gallop organization. republican voters were asked essentially who do you find acceptable as republican nominee? newt gingrich way out in front 62%. only one above 50% is mitt rom knee. any -- romney. any surprises there, karl? >> it is down to a two-person race. doesn't mean there isn't room for somebody to claw

into that acceptables. there is washington abc poll, six out of 10 iowa caucus-goers say they could change their minds in less than, and five out of every 10 of the very likely caucus voters say they are likely to stick with their choice. we have a lot of fluidity left in the system and a month of calendar days and probably about 20 one or 22 days or 23 days of most of campaigning before people sort of lock up their opinions before christmas. then there will be a brief flurry of activity after christmas and before new year's as people talk about the race. candidates will try to intrude on it new year's eve going to iowa. we have three weeks before people sort of politics take as second place to the holidays. jon: a lot of political discussions over the christmas turkey i imagine. let's turn our attention. >> absolutely. jon: from the folks to want-to-be president to the guy who is president. he is getting on air force

one, flying all the way to kansas to make a speech to sort of evoke the memory of teddy roosevelt. what do you think about the practice there? >> i don't think barack obama is theodore roosevelt and, you know, flying to kansas to give a speech as these door roosevelt gave his famous nationalism speech, look, tr laid out the square deal as one pundit put it. obama seems to be giving us a raw deal when it comes to spending deficit and debt. jon: you don't think it will work? >> look, it will get him news and it will allow him to try to identify himself with tr. once again makes him look completely political. why doesn't the president play to his big strength which he is the president? he doesn't need to look like he is yet another campaigner out there, out there like rick santorum or michele bachmann or newt gingrich or mitt romney or ron paul

trying to be a candidate. he ought to be the president. instead he looks like a cheesy politician. i don't think that is his strength. he squandered this year. the entire year of 2011 could have been spent on trying to achieve big things for the country and building the image of himself as a strong leader. instead he allowed himself to weaken himself by being a campaigner. a poll 32% of the people said turned out to be stronger leader than they thought he would be and 60% said he was turning out to be a weaker leader than they thought. that is result of what he has done this year and kansas speech is attestment to it. >> how you keep the numbers is amazing. karl rove, thank you very much. >> thank you, jon. jenna: the president as karl and john jon was mentioning is headed to kansas. he is calling to extend payroll tax cuts for millions of americans. republicans and democrats are unable to agree on a plan so far. in a compromise suggested by democrats yesterday has been

greeted with surprise so far by the gop. let's talk to the man behind that compromise plan, democratic senator bob casey of pennsylvania. senator casey, we have to talk about policy as well as procedure. i will start with procedure to get that out of the way first. you know the reactions from the republicans when they heard about the compromise bill. we don't know anything about it. we don't know the details. set the record straight for us here. did you sit down and hash this out with republicans? did you sit across the table face-to-face with them and come up with this compromise bill? >> no, we didn't sit down, but i'll tell you the way you come up with a compromise by proposing ideas that the other side would find acceptable. in this revised version of the payroll tax cut legislation, what we're trying to do is cut the payroll tax in half for workers. as you know at the end of 2010 we cut it from 6.2 to 4.2. i think we should it down to 3.1. cut in half and be very clear. i think republicans can support that. i think democrats will as well. in addition to that because

the republicans wanted to take out any, any payroll tax cut for small businesses, we took that out. i didn't want to do that but i did that because in the interests of compromise. and finally, with regard to the surtax, i know a lot of republicans didn't want to support a level of 3.25. so we cut that back down to 1.9. i think that is a reasonable compromise. so you can arrive at a compromise in a lot of different ways. i think this is legislation which will give certainty to taxpayers at the end of the year, whether they're a family or small business, that their payroll tax can be cut. jenna: you mentioned republican support and you mentioned democrat support as well and i'd like to talk to you a little bit about the support of members in your own party. as you know the first proposal put out by democrats and republicans on this both failed. many democrats voted against the democrat proposal as well. i should four democrats or three democrats and one independent voted against the democratic proposal because, it raised taxes. and so, why do you think

making this tax, when it comes to the taxing millionaire temporary, rather than permanent, is going to get members of your own party on board to support this bill? >> well, let's be clear. the first version that i introduced last week that we voted on got 51 votes. the republican alternative got 20. so i think we made a lot of progress last week. i think democrats and republicans can come together in a reasonable way to say, that the wealthy few in america can help us pay for a payroll tax cut, cutting it in half as i said before, for 160 million workers. it would affect more than 6.7 million pennsylvanians. this is the right thing to do. we did it last year. >> do you have the votes? >> in a bipartisan way. because of what we did last year we had substantial private sector job growth for several months and then the economy went the wrong direction. we have to continue to move this economy forward. the and the way you create demand is by putting, i hope

at least 1,000 but as much as $1500 in the take-home pay for our workers that is what a lot of families are telling us they could use right now. jenna: do you have the votes, sir? >> we don't know yet but we're working on it this week. hopefully we get a vote by the end of the week to see where we are. we have to continue to work together and i think we can do this in a bipartisan way. jenna: senator casey, appreciate the time. you were against a deadline with this by the end of the year so he always appreciate the time. >> thank you. jon: guess who is in court right now, jenna lee? jenna: i remember this guy. jon: remember that hair? rod blaug blaug. he is waiting to learn how many years he will spend in prison. we're live at the sentencing hearing for the disgraced former governor of illinois. jenna: police and protesters coming place to place. things spiraling out of control. molotov cocktails you see flying through the air there. incredible video from a violent demonstration ahead. jon: he is considered armed

and very dangerous. an escaped inmate on the loose. where police think he is now and what they're doing to try to catch him. >> law enforcement agencies have developed information, most important and most concerning is that we strongly believe that david hobson has acquire ad firearm medicare. it doesn't cover everything.

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medicare guide and customized rate quote. jon: a fox news alert for you now. federal prosecutors holding a news conference at this hour on a historic settlement in a west virgina coal mine explosion that killed 29 people. investigators say it was a combination of methane gas and coal dust that exploded inside the upper big branch mine back in april of 2010. it was the worst mining disaster in the u.s. in decades. the $210 million agreement between federal prosecutors and the mine's owners includes nearly $50 million for the victim's families. $35 million in fines and more than $100 million in safety upgrades, research

and training. the company also agrees to increased inspections at its other sites. jenna: can't bring anyone back but hopefully provide some relief from the families. meantime we have new video and information crossing our international desk at this time a homicide bomber striking a crowd of shia worshippers at a mosque in afghanistan. 55 people were killed. what ask called the worst sectarian violence in afghanistan since the fall of the taliban. four people were killed in a separate bombing against shias as well in northern afghanistan. jon: this new video out of syria. take a look. [gunfire] pretty rare to get video out of there but this chaos is caught on tape as shots rang out in the city of homsa group for our sister network, sky news was recently given rare access to look at civilian life. as you can see violence continues in uprising against president ba'asyir

hassan which began in march. human rights panel said the government was given shoot to kill orders against demonstrations. nightly protection is given under the so-called free syrian army. jenna: police and protesters in the meantime clash in the streets of athens yet again. students were demonstrating in the greek capital when things turned violent. as you can see protesters throwing molotov cocktails and stones at police outside of parliament. officers respond using tear gas and you see the confrontation that developed over last couple hours. the demonstration was held in remembrance of a 15-year-old killed in a police shooting in 2008. his death sparked weeks of violent riots in the streets. the officer responsible was sentenced to life in prison. >> and this fox news alert. disgraced illinois governor rod blagojevich about to

learn his punishment. his sentencing hearing is underway in chicago. blagojevich as you might recall was convicted on 18 corruption counts including trying to auction off president obama's empty senate seat. the former illinois governor faces up to 30 years behind bars. mike tobin is live outside the federal courthouse in chicago. so will we hear from blago today, mike? >> reporter: you know, jon, his attorney told us we'll probably see blago on the witness stand sometime today, possibly tomorrow. the catch is, usually that is an opportunity for a convict to become contrite, to beg for some leniency from the judge. blago has never been apologetic because he is been arguing his innocence through the whole process despite the conviction. we've seen the judge become annoyed with blagojevich and the whole blagojevich circus. the blagojevich is a friend of the camera. he likes to argue his case in the court of public opinion. this morning at the courthouse he gave a slip to

the cameras and entered the courthouse through a tunnel. we're learning that was directed by the u.s. marshals on the orders from the judge, jon? jon: how much time might he get? are you making any educated guesses? >> reporter: well, you know, there is a guideline and that is because one ever his coconspirators, tony rezko, a former fund-raiser for governor blagojevich was just handed a sentence for 10 1/2 years because of his role. it says rezko was not the chief. governor of illinois was the chief. the governor should get more time. however there is counter argument because rezko made a lot of money, blago never profited. >> he didn't hurt anybody. he didn't take any money. he didn't cause any real harm to people. that is outrage just. big-time should be, you know used for violent people. >> reporter: the government has been requesting 15 to 25 years for blagojevich. jon? jon: i know you'll be there to tell us what he gets when that sentencing come downs.

thanks very much. mike tobin in chicago. >> reporter: you got it, bud. jenna: we'll watch for that. meantime, shoppers beware for a bizarre reason. new reports of syringes found inside clothing at a wal-mart. you have at least two people jabbed. rick folbaum has the frightening details. i buy some clothes, bring them home and there is syringe inside. what is going on with that. armed and dangerous, a massive manhunt for this man, david glenn hobson on the loose right now and leaving many people terrified. >> i said is he by my house? they go, we don't know where he is. i said, i want to let you know i have an opened a digs that is not finished. we did see flashlights thursday night. all energy development comes with some risk,

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pe. jon: a fox news alert for you and people in southern

maine are on edge right now as a massive manhunt for an escaped prisoner intensifies. cops are calling david glenn hobson armed and extremely dangerous saying he took off from a county jail in new hampshire. now he may be going after two people in maine but folks in both states are really on edge. joining us on the phone, maine state police public information officer. stephen, my understanding he has got a gun. do you know how he got it? >> jon we won't know he is armed until he is actually brought into custody. our best guess he is armed and dangerous and desperate and all of southern maine is on the lookout for him. jon: the supposition is he is going after a couple of people in particular but really the whole state needs to are worried and keep an eye out for this guy. >> we think he broke out of jail for a grudge against two individuals. we warned them and they're in a safe location. this man is desperate. he has been on the run since last thursday.

there has been substantial search for him from the air, on the ground. today we have a dozen tracking dogs looking for him in southern maine. but he remains among the missing. someone will see him. someone will call police and we're going to bring this search to an end. jon: his father was arrested for helping him out, right? >> his father was arrested last week. there was medical supplies, clothing left on the porch of the father's house. we believe the son was supposed to be the recipient of that but we intervened before that happened. jon: medical supplies why? there was blood found in a car that it is believed he drove, right? >> he jumped the fence of this jail in new hampshire that he escaped from last thursday. there is razor wire on top of this fence. he cut himself significantly. there was blood in the vehicle that we think he stole. and so he is injured and that obviously adds to the concern as to how desperate this man is. jon: right. so what are you telling people? i mean, you can give his description. we've had his mug shot up a

couple times but what are you telling people to be looking for? >> hobson's face is probably the best known face in southern maine this week. we're telling residents of maine and new hampshire to be vigilant and be aware of their surroundings. if they sense anything that might be hobson-related we need to hear about it. jon: first escape from that prison since it was built in 2003. thanks very much. >> thank you. jenna: we'll have more when we get it. we have reports of more, that's right, more syringes stuck in the pockets of clothing a one particular wal-mart. rick, what is this story about? >> this is bizarre, you don't typically hear the warning from police check your clothes for syringes. that is what the local sheriff's office in cartersville, georgia, anybody that recently bought clothing from the local wal-mart. seven cases reported in last two weeks alone, all from the same store on marketplace boulevard. this most recent case involving a shopper finding a needle inside after pair

of men's lounging pants like sweats. when police came to investigate the situation, the store manager found another needle in another pair of pants. authorities first became aware of the situation in black friday. they found syringes in a pair of children's hello kitty socks to a pair of children's pajamas. in that situation, a little girl got stuck in the foot. she is okay. if you have any information, call the cartersville-bartow county crimestoppers line. there is the information. a woman good a needle opening up a item clothing is taking antibiotics just in case. wal-mart says they will pay for the medicine. jenna: what a bizarre story, rick. we'll continue to watch it. jon: a good word for it. life in prison or the death penalty? the a jury deciding the fate after second man convicted in the brutal murders of a connecticut doctor's family. a live report next.

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jon: right now, a connecticut jury is deliberating whether joshua komisarjevsky will spend his life in prison or be sentenced to death. he is one of two men

convicted of brutally assaulting and killing the wife and two daughters of a connecticut doctor. rick folbaum has more. rick? >> the jury deliberating right now, jon whether this monster lives or dies. it is the same jury that found him guilty of breaking into the petit household and raping ard murdering the mother and their two daughters. he took part in burning the family's house down. the doctor was only person who survived. he was beaten up in the basement and tied up down there and was able to escape. defense says komisarjevsky was abused by his own father and never got help. prosecutors leaving the horrific details of the petit daughters final moments likely screaming for their lives as the house burned around home. the prosecution says dr. petit has no photographs. they were all destroyed in the fire at his home. he has no photos. no family. the other man convicted in this case, john steven hayes is on death row for his role

in the crime. when we hear from the jury we'll get back to you. jon: nobody knows how long it will take. >> true. jon: rick, thank you. jenna: to some business news now. s&p is issuing another warning this morning on the creditworthiness of europe. this comes as european leaders meet this week to try to resolve the spreading debt crisis. there are new fears of about a potential break up of eurozone, dissolution of euro and what it might mean for us in the u.s. economy. peter morici, a economist at university of maryland. peter, as we watch this slow-moving drama unfold where are we now in the drama and what are the effects for us? >> essentially chancellor merkel and president sarkozy are trying to impose on the other 15 members of eurozone strict limits on their borrowing ability. this would likely cause a very long and extended recession and ultimately cause the eurozone to break up. if they don't reach that conclusion the eurozone could break up rather quickly and again, depending how it played out, europe

could go into significant recession. the u.s. economy can survive that. jenna: let me stop with that. seems like both scenarios are not necessarily great ones right? for europe most likely drifting toward a recession. does that mean we get taken down with them? >> if it is a mild recession, no. if it is a deep recess yes. more than 1/5 of our exports go to europe. >> made or medium or spicy. i feel like we're talking about food when it comes to recession. how do you define a mild recession versus a recession versus one that will be significant enough to really affect us? >> okay. if europe contracts one or two percentage points for a year or two, we can survive that. if europe contracts three or four percentage points over two years and continues depressed then that will have long-term consequences given the fact that the u.s. economy is having such a mild recovery. jenna: so in the meantime we can be proactive, right? we know they're trying to figure things out over there in europe. what lessons can we take

from watching them try to figure out what to do next? what kind of lessons can we apply here at home to maybe shore up our own resources, to make sure we're a little more protective against what is happening all around the world? >> just as the europeans have not taken structural measures, their labor market policies to fix their economy, we haven't done the same here. but in our case, things like our huge trade deficit with china and our enormous deficit on oil. both of those things could be addressed. the obama administration refuses to address them. and a whole chorus of republican candidates have pointed that out. essentially the romney, gingrich, what have you platform, would fix what's broken and insulate america from europe's decline. but the obama administration instead is encouraging them to pursue what are essentially wrong-headed reforms that will ultimately lead to the euro's demise. jenna: interesting you're talking about china and i would like to pick up off the euro demise as well. just for a moment, talking

about china, is china even involved in a european rescue? what is china is doing while we're focused on europe and what is happening there and our own budget crisis what is china doing right now? what about the emerging markets? are they gaining ground on us? >> this internal european problem. there is not much the chinese can do but loan them some mon any but that just boots the can down the road. china, emerging markets grow quite strongly and not as quickly as before and gaining ground on us in a lot of industries because we're not taking steps we need to take. china is rapidly becoming our competitor economically and militarily in the pacific. i'm afraid this administration is asleep at the switch. jenna: only leave 30 seconds here, peter but you mentioned euro's demise. do you think the euro survives in the form that it is in right now today? >> it can continue to survive but europe will have to endure a decade-long recession to sustain it. europe will go into a period like japan went into the '80s and '90s.

it is unnecessary. it is a terrible shame but unfortunately bad economics is being compounded by more bad economics and institutionalized into treaties which make these situations constitutional in nature. jenna: peter, always nice to have you. thank you, sir, for your expertise. >> thank you. jon: if you have spent any amount of time on the highway, you've seen them. specialty license plates, they raise awareness for everything from breast cancer to your favorite nascar driver. there has been an explosion of them in recent years in just about all the states. now some law enforcement officials fear all of these specialty plates can cause real confusion for police officers. jonathan serrie is live in atlanta. confusion why, jonathan? >> reporter: well, jon it's all the different designs. for example, in south carolina, they have 370 different license plates. there is a bill before the legislature that would double that number to accommodate specialized plates for everything from librarians to lovers of

beach music. well, this is all fun and brings in a lot of money for a lot of organizations but some law enforcement officers, particularly in states with hundreds of different license plates say, it is getting increasingly difficult to determine where each vehicle is from. specialty license plates raise money and awareness for a variety of groups and causes but that variety can lead it confusion, especially in states where there are hundreds of designs. >> i would just challenge the average person to look at these plates and tell me where states these came from? >> reporter: the difficulty reading plates affects police officers witnesses and even automatic scanners. >> if you ask me my personal opinion which one is more important public safety or vanity, it always will be public safety but i believe there's a balance and that's with we're looking to strike. >> reporter: south carolina may follow the route of neighboring georgia which

standardized lights to a third of license plates with state in bold letters at the top. >> particularly important the community comes at it in a way to make sure the plates are easily legible and law enforcement officers can identify what they need to identify. >> reporter: to give you an example of one of these organizations and causes benefiting from specialty plates, the south carolina cattleman's association sold several hundred plates and yet, was able to raise thousands of dollars for agricultural research and scholarships in the state of south carolina. it is unlikely you will see specialty plates disappearing anytime soon. but what you will likely see is the customization moving to one side of the license plate, while the area that displays the state and tag number becomes a little more standardized. jon? jon: i know my home state of colorado has a bunch of options you can order from the dmv. jonathan serrie, thank you. >> reporter: certainly. jenna: the battle over nuclear power plants here in

the united states continues to rage on. what is at stake if we shut all the plants down? think about that. we're live with that story coming up. another government agency is now tangled up in the "fast and furious" botched gun running operation. we're live on capitol hill with congressman darrell issa with the very latest on these allegations. the best approach to food is tkeep it whole for better nutrition. that's what they do with great grains cereal. they steam and bake the actual whole grain while the otr guy's flake is more processed. mmm. great grains. the whole whole grain cereal.

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help protect yourself from some of what medicare doesn't pay... and save up to thousands of dollars in potential... out-of-pocket expenses with an aarp... medicare supplement insurance plan... insured by unitedhealthcare insurance company. call this toll-free number on your screen now... for this free information kit, including this... medicare guide and customized rate quote. jenna: this is all the stories we're keeping an eye on here in the newsroom and from our control room as well. we'll take you out to chief and, ohio first. a serial killer's home is being torn down. this is video earlier today. they discovered 10 bodies and one skull in the man's house. the victim's relatives say today's demolition gives them some sense of closure. a woman is dead after falling 75 feet from the queen mary cruise ship in long beach, california last night. a man that jumped in after

her was treated forehypothermia. there is no word on what led to the fall. the winds today in southern california caused widespread outages. southern california edison, one of the big power companies out there, says they will have power restored to everyone by the end of the day. jon: lots of new developments in the "fast and furious" gun-running scandal. there was a huge document dump related to the case. it came late on friday. attorney general eric holder is scheduled to testify on capitol hill on thursday. now there are new allegations about another government agency. republican congressman darrell issa is chairman of the house committee on oversight and government reform. you're now taking a hard look at the dea, the drug enforcement administration. can you tell us why, congressman? >> well, it looks like it is the same sort of a program. in this case, not only lent money but assisted money getting out of the u.s. into

mexico with the hope that they would be able to follow the money. as you know drug seizures and in fact, rolling up these cartels hasn't happened in the several years of this administration. so we have to ask the question of, how long are they going to continue with either failed strategy particularly when we understand that money is the lifeblood of the drug trade? with money they can corrupt the system in mexico. most importantly we'll ask a question, simple, with "fast and furious", you hid it from the mexican authorities that were your partners. did you do the same thing in this dea operation? are we in fact losing the trust of the mexican government which is essential to the war on drugs? jon: so the dea was in effect, acting as a money launderer for some of these mexican drug lords? >> that is what "the new york times" is reporting. obviously we don't just take the report of a newspaper. we're following the evidence where it goes. in february we began working

on "fast and furious". basically thursday will be the first time we're expecting to see the real truth in this case. one it shows in fact that when they had the opportunity to honestly answer senator grassley and myself about "fast and furious", we were told lies. it wasn't by the individual perhaps who brought the lies but it was certainly the result of multiple people, perhaps as many as 100 at the department of justice, allowing these false statements to come to congress on both sides of the dome. jon: let me read a statement that we obtained from the dea in response to these allegations. the agency writes, the dea has well-established mechanisms for coordinating and approving activities associated with the fight against money land iring. as a result of this cooperation, dea has seized illicit transnational organization money all around the world through our partnership with law enforcement. they also say essentially the mexican government knew about this program. >> well, you know, the first answer you get from this justice department doesn't

have a high credibility. i think the american people want us to make sure we get the whole truth. but we're not going to lose focus on the fact that justice failed to protect brian terry from being killed with weapons in all likelihood came from "fast and furious". i say all likelihood because justice is trying to pretend right now that the two weapons, part of "fast and furious" found at his scene having been fired somehow are not necessarily the one that killed him. well, they are not looking for a third shooter or a third weapon. so this continues to be one of those situations in which brian terry's family and all of law enforcement worry about whether justice really has their back. jon: let's talk about another federal agency you're taking a look at that really hits closer to home for most americans, the postal service. you say they have blown it with these reforms? >> they have totally blown it. the post office needs comprehensive reform. they need to save at least $10 million out of, 10 billion out of 65 billion in order to break even.

and as you know, raising prices is only going to drive more people out of using postal services. so it is very clear they have got to find new efficiencies. our bill has proposed new efficiencies. they have been scored. the postmaster himself signs on to virtual all of them and yet we have this resistance and this piecemealing and susan collins, who is very supportive of not doing comprehensive reform, is also calling what they're doing at the post office a death spiral. so we don't want to see a death spiral. we certainly don't want to see the american people end up paying the bill, literally, tens or hundreds of billions of dollars for the retirement accounts of postal workers who are federal employees. we want the system to do what it was supposed to, break even, and provide a service. we think it can if they support comprehensive reform. jon: postal rates going up next year. congressman darrell issa, thank you. >> thanks, jon. jenna: members of mitt romney's camp calling

for him to get tough on newt gingrich as a new poll shows the former speaker gaining in the race for the republican nomination. this is according to some of the reports. what can we expect leading up to the first contest in iowa? we have a live report in our next hour on that. she was the all american cover girl in the 1980s. former supermodel christie brinkley is in some hot water. find out who is telling her to pay up. ♪ .

jon: a hearing underway right now in the senate judiciary committee over whether to allah cameras in the united states supreme court. now many of the justices who

serve there oppose the idea but supporters say it is about time the average american gets to see what really happens in the nation's highest court. national correspondent steve centanni joins us live from washington with more on that argument. steve? >> reporter: hi, jon. there's long been pressure to open up the supreme court arguments to television camera and that idea is being debated right now on capitol hill. most of the justice you as you indicated oppose the idea of allowing cameras in the courtroom. elena kagan is most open to the idea with you others expressed opinion that cameras could be intrusive and change the way the justices conduct their arguments and deliberations. justice anthony kennedy said the court is very collegial and the cameras could change that dynamic. supporters say sunshine is the best disinfectant. they point out the court proceedings are public and should be seen easily in the public. this new move to put cameras in the high court after the court decided to hear the

new health care law. one key decision is whether individuals would be required to buy health insurance because of intense public interest. senators dick durbin and chuck grassley to require the court to allow cameras in the courtroom the first time. one former senator arlen specter of pennsylvania was a witness today. he answered the charge this could raise a constitutional question. can congress tell the courts what to do? >> the court can come back and say it is a violation of separation of powers. i frankly do not think they would because you have very strong public opinion in favor of having the court televised, and the final analysis the court does listen to the public. >> reporter: only two federal appeals courts have so far allowed in their cameras in their courtroom. the supreme court only provides transcripts and audiotapes of their proceedings. jon: it will be quite a

battle to watch. steve centanni, thanks. jenna: one of america's cover girls. jon: my favorite. >> your favorite. there she is christie brinkley getting a hefty bill from the irs she is 57 years old, can you believe that. the former supermodel owes half a million dollars in taxes. brinkley says she will pay quickly and the tax lien resulted from an honest mistake. it is on the mansion in the hamptons. she tried to sell it before taking it off the market. brinkley regrets not paying more attention to her accounting. we know jon scott will volunteer to do that for her. jon: only if i could make a dent in number like that. i do like her. the father of missing florida mom, michelle parker has harsh words for her ex-fiance, claiming he is involved in her disappearance and demanding he take a live detector test.

a live report from florida just ahead. dad, why are you getting that? is there a prize in there? oh, there's a prize, all right. [ male announcer ] inside every box of cheerios are those great-tting little o's made from carefully selected oats that can help lower cholester. is it a superhero? kinda. ♪

jenna: there is mounting pressure in the republican race for 2012. you can just sense it, right? it's out there. jon: it's getting a little pressure cooker out there. jenna: hi, everybody, i'm jenna lee, we are glad you are with us. jon: i'm jon scott. newt gingrich and mitt romney are eyeing each other as they try to plot strategy to win the gop nomination. jenna: there are reports that suggest romney supporters want him to start hitting gingrich harder in order to close the deal with voters. we have the managing editor of cq weekly. you had a big article on newt gingrich and his past few decades in politics. you're a great person to ask about this. the reason for wanting romney to get more aggressive according to these reports, the why is interesting. the reports suggest that gingrich is mitt romney's first serious competitor. do you agree with that?

>> well, no, he is the current, remaining competitor. there have been serious competitors every week as you know as well as i do. perry was a serious competitor, cain was a serious competitor, enro even ron paul is a serious competitor in iowa. i think this may be his last standing competitor. the thing about newt gingrich watching him all these years as i have, i was a bad high school wrestler. one of the reasons why is because i used to lunge at my opponents desperately so the opponent didn't have to do anything. he could count on me to lunge across the mat and step back and i would fall on my face. newt gingrich's record is not a good one. he's a lunger, and if you recall hispanic tre history as speaker

of the house he started out as a hero and in a matter of two years everybody disliked him, including his own party, and two years later he was out of contention and he had some of the lowest favorability ratings in the history of that job. so, you know, i don't give political advice, but, you know, maybe wrestling advice, this guy is a lunger, let him go. he's already in a short period ever time he's been running for president chalked up a list of things he's had to apologize for or explain, words that are a little bit out of control. if i were campaigning against him, you know, i'd just let him implode on his own, if he does. jenna: things have got even better since the wrestling days for you. >> yes they have, i quit, yes. jenna: thankfully, thankfully. you mentioned one of the top competitors, a name we continue to talk about, which is ron paul. there are two ads that ron paul came out recently, one just

today. this shows ron paul getting aggressive. let's take a look at this. >> what is up with these sorry politicians. when it's show time whi whimpering like little sitzu's. jenna: that is in general against the establishment if you will. here is his ad he launched today in iowa specifically going after gingrich. >> everything that gingrich railed against when he was in the house, he went the other way when he got paid to go the other way. >> he's demonstrating himself to be the very essence of the washington insiders. >> it's about serial hypocrisy. jenna: does mitt romney ned to get more aggressive if ron paul is already out with these ads doing some of the work for him? >> your point is exactly correct. let ron paul do the work for him. mitt romney had some of the same

vulnerabilities as newt gingrich, not the ethical issues, of course but the flip flopping, he's been on every side of every issue. and you could run the same identical add serial position, serial hypocrisy, whatever, for both of them. so i personally think that again it might be a mistake for romney to get out there and accuse newt gingrich of something for which romney himself is so vulnerable. why not let ron paul do it. ron paul seems to have the money to pay for the ads. jenna: sure, that certainly got our attention. we just played it for him. fred, final question here. this one has to do in general with these type of elections as someone who watches them so closely. it brings up how long our memories are, or how short they are. most of us can't remember yesterday, i'm speaking for myself, personally. when i'm reminded of things that happened in the 1990s or even reminded what happened a couple years ago with mitt romney i'm curious about how much relevance

that plays with voters today, dealing with today's issue. america likes the come back in general. how much does the past really matter here when we are looking ahead at the future? >> right now they don't know gingrich, you're right, the past -- first of all many voters are too young to remember those days, so you're absolutely right. but when they start to get dredged up, remember people's campaigns have been done in historically by things they did 30 years ago. so if you find the right pressure point it doesn't matter really when it happened, it's a matter of introducing your opponent to people who don't know him, highlighting, of course, the unfavorable aspects of his record, and gingrich is running on his record, after all, as speaker, that is his claim to fame. i'm the only one that's held responsible high, public office. i'm the only one who knows really how washington works. if he's going to do that he's going to have it sort of thrown back at him.

he will have raised the subject. one of the reasons gingrich is doing so well in the polls is that people don't know who he is really any more. jenna: that's interesting. your article addressed that directly, you had a long piece on newt gingrich and what happened through his political life. one of the questions you raise is whether or not the folks that worked with gingrich at the time that are still in political power will back him. we saw some of that on fox news sunday. fred, thank you so much for your strategic expertise, wrestling and otherwise, we look forward to having you back. jon: i was a bad high school wrestler too. jenna: you were? were you a lunger? jon: i could never remember what to do when i got stuck. i guess i can't be president. jenna: who knew. jon: there is new information on efforts to make it a crime to use race or gender selection as the basis for an abortion. we told you about this story yesterday. shannon bream is keeping an eye on it. she is live in washington. how would this law work, shannon. >> reporter: we are getting some more details b. it' details

today. it would ban the practice of sex selection or race-based decisions about abortion. trent franks authored this bill and hopes it will become a law. here is his explanation. >> it would simply say that you cannot discriminate against the unborn by subbing them to an abortion based on their race or sex. >> reporter: the law contains civil penalties and even jail time up to five years behind bars but not for the woman who gets an abortion, those penalties would be aimed at those who counsel her or provide her an abortion that is made on the basis of gender or race, jon. jon: there is significant opposition to this. though, right. >> reporter: pro-choice groups say this is an absolute waste of congressional resources at a time when lawmakers pledged to turn around the economy. they say it's about a much bigger issue, overturning roe versus wade. here is nancy northrop, president of the center for reproductive rights. >> this bill is a cynical and

offensive attempt to evoke race and sex discrimination when actually it's about taking women's rights away. >> reporter: there is a 1:00 eastern hearing on the hill today with those for and against the bill. 60 cosponsors have signed on so far. jon: shannon bream in washington. thanks. jenna: "happening now" in the war-torn country of afghanistan we are seeing major sectarian violence for the very first time since the taliban fell. deadly bombings targeting shiites on what was supposed to be a holy day. the worst attack taking place outside the mosque in the capitol. conor powell streaming live from there. >> reporter: in just a few minutes multiple bombs ripped through some of afghanistan's largest cities. the biggest bomb in kabul killed at least 55 people. hundreds more were wounded. another bomb just a few minutes later also killed four people in another large afghan city.

another bomb detonated in kandahar city. no one was killed there. this is the single deadliest day in four years and it was targeted at shiite muslims that were celebrating a festival, this is a high holy day for the shiite face in afghanistan. it was supposed to be a day of festival and celebration, but instead turned into a deadly day. the taliban has condemned the attack and refused to take responsibility for it. it has the hallmarks of an afghan taliban attack. they say they were not behind it. there is a lot of suspicion that a group from pakistan, where shiite-related violence is often happens over in pakistan there is a lot of evidence, and people's speculation that pakistani taliban groups may be behind this. there are reports in the pakistan media that a pakistani taliban offshoot called last car j u.n. lee which is a taliban

faction out of pakistan may be behind this. it is unclear. we know the shiite muslim community in afghanistan was targeted and it was a very deadly day. jenna: interesting connection, reports connecting this to pakistan and obviously a developing story, connor. thank you very much, conor powell for us live in afghanistan today. jon: fox news alert updating you on a manhunt in northern new england. police are now searching for an escaped prisoner who is said to be armed, dangerous, and out for revenge. david glen hobson escaped from the caroll county jail in new hampshire last week. he climbed over a razor wire fence. police believe his relatives helped him get out. julie banderas following the developments. >> reporter: david glen hobson has been on the loose since escaping from a jail in new hampshire on december 1st. u.s. marshal's believe he stole a vehicle to return to his home

down of alfred, maine. police say the 33-year-old has plans to harm two people in the area. listen. >> most concerning is that we strongly believe that david hobson has acquired a firearm an has made threats to specific individuals. these individuals have been contacted by law enforcement and are in a secure location. >> reporter: investigators have been scouring the surrounding areas of his hometown creating those road blocks you see there, executing search warrants of relatives in nearby stanford, maine, including this cabin which actually belongs to his father glen, who was arrested on friday for hindering apprehension by helping his son and leaving him supplies. he's since been released on bail. one possible clue for people to look out for, police say after escaping from prison hobson may have been injured. >> he jumped the fence of this jail in new hampshire that he escaped from last thursday.

there is razor wire on top of this fence, and he cut himself significantly. there was blood in the vehicle that we think he stole. so he is injured and that obviously adds to the concern as to how desperate this man is. >> reporter: right now a $500 reward is being offered to anyone with information who can assist the u.s. marshal's service in catching this guy. there is also a hotline people can call with tips. that number is (207)657-3030. jon. jon: as you said they think he is hurt, cut up from climbing over that razor wire. he could be in a lot of trouble there. thanks. jenna: a familiar name now, amanda knox hiring a high profile lawyer. this time it has nothing to do with facing murder charges in italy. we are going to tell you what she is planning to do next. also, a proposed ballot measure would shut down a state's nuclear power plant immediately despite warnings of black outs,

and other things as well. the chances it has to get on the ballot we'll discuss with you. and rick is at the web wall. >> reporter: lawmakers have their work cut out for them especially if they are going to reach a deal on extending the payroll tax cuts. senator rand paul from kentucky will be our live guest. that is coming up. in the meantime i have a job for you. you can go to foxnews.com the "happening now" home page, there it is, scroll down and let us know what you think, should the government come to some sort of a deal to get that tax cut extended? now is the time to go on and vote. so far the results are 61% of you just about saying no deal, they shouldn't do it. we'll have senator paul, we'll ask him about that. more "happening now" after a quick break. don't go away. e you receiving at from a legal settlement or annuity over 10 or even 20 years? call imperial structured settlements. the experts at imperial can convert your long-term payout into a lump sum of cash today. see? he's taking his vitamins.

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what do yean? it ends december 7th. if you haven't reviewed your medicare plan oices yet, well, it's getting late. medicare gives you free cancer screenings and wellness visits, and 50% o brand name prescription drugs when you're in e donut hole... it's all part of the health care law. december 7th? i better get goin'! [ male announcer ] medicare open enrollment ends soon. cal1-800-medice or visit medica.gov to learn re. jon: fox news alert seems like there are protests all across europe right now, and the associated press is reporting that one of its people in moscow has seen fire bombs thrown in the streets there as a result of

protests against the parliamentary elections. vladimir putin's united russian party won the elections, although they didn't win as convincingly as they did the last time around. these protestors have taken to the streets because they say that vladimir putin's party only got the results they did because of massive vote fraud. they are upset about that, obviously, and fire bombs apparently are being thrown. vladimir putin, the long-time president, now prime minister intends to return to the presidency of russia in march. his plans could be complicated by the results of these elections which the protestors say were only achieved because of massive vote fraud. we'll keep an eye on it on fox news. jenna: right now new information on some crime stories we are keeping an eye on for you here. the father of a missing 2-year-old girl in detroit. we broke this story for you on friday. he claims he is cooperating with police. 32-year-old dandre lane said his car was stolen with his daughter inside.

you're seeing a picture of the little girl on the screen. they found the car but no sign of bianca unfortunately. a chicago suspect picks the wrong man to tangle with. a picture tells a thousand stories. police say anthony miranda tried to rob a man at gunpoint, but the victim, quote unquote, turned out to be a marshal art's expert and this is what happened. so you can just see what happened. miranda was arrested after being beaten up. doesn't look like he had a good time, does it? an attorney who brokered book deals for president obama and bill clinton is now being hired by amanda knox, the former college student who spent four years in an italian prison before her murder conviction was overturned. she has hired bob barnett to help her sort through various offers, many coming into her at this time. jon: love to see that photo again. "happening now" a proposed ballot initiative in california would shut down the state's new nuclear power plants pronto. this passed it has the potential

to call rolling black outs, spikes in electricity rates, and billions in economic losses each year, that according to a nonpartisan report. adam housley is live from los angeles. so how likely is this measure to pass, and who is promoting it, adam? >> reporter: well, first it's in the final process before it gets on the ballot. these where they gather the signatures. it's been approved by the secretary of state too go forward in that respect. they have to get about 500,00 500,000 signatures by the middle of april to get it on the november ballot. it's supported by ben davis jr. he was successful in the late 80s of shutting down rancho secco near sacramento. he got voters to shut this plant down. he says because of what happened in japan support is rising here in california and he believes he can get people in california to do the same by shutting down the plants here and bypassing his initiative if it gets on the ballot. take a listen. >> we are like amirer image of japan on this side of the pacific, and i think it's at the

forefront of every californian's mind that the risks of this power, and the unknowns of the risks of this power just are not worth the benefits we are gaining from it. >> reporter: once again he's getting the signatures right now, jon. 500,000 by the middle of april and it will go on california's ballot next november. jon: if this thing passes we gave the bullet points of what kind of effect it would have on californians, but flesh it out a little bette for us. >> reporter: yeah, we had that nonpartisan study that came out a couple of days ago. the two plants are responsible for 16% of california's power. they power roughly 6 million homes. if they were to go away, if they were to be shut down, if it was on the ballot and california voters would approve of it it would be a significant blow to californians and businesses costing in the billions. those in favor of nuclear power will tell you that this is an absolutely bad idea and if these two complexes, and maybe even

more new ones should come online, take a listen. >> those two nuclear complexes alone provide more than four times as much power as all the solar and wind farms in the state of california kpweupd. if we are going to take those off line and get rid of that zero carbon and zero emissions power we have to replace it with something. >> reporter: california has two plants along the coast. there is a moratorium on any new plants that. was passed by californians back in the mid 70s. jon: adam housley. keep an eye on it thank you jo a spy plane for the united states not so secret any more. iran's military now has a drone just like this one. what iran could learn about our technology ahead. in georgia the body of a seven-year-old girl found fatally beat even in a dumpster near her home. these stories just break your heart, don't they? authorities are talking about what's happened in this horrific case and how you can help, next. people love the surf & turf. you can't go wrong.

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authorities in georgia announcing autopsy results for a seven-year-old girl. she was found dead in a dumpster near her home after she went missing late last week. rick, we said these stories are heartbreaking, they make us pretty angry too. >> reporter: this is tough to hear the details of. they are on the hunt for whoever savagely killed this little girl, last seen alive playing outside of her apartment complex friday afternoon. a little over an hour north of atlanta is the location here, and just yesterday the gbi announcing that the body had been found. as you said in a dumpster at the complex, and just within the last hour authorities releasing autopsy results showing that she was beaten, stabbed and she was sexually assaulted as well. they say that they have

conducted a number of interviews, they have found several potential crime scenes but they believe she was killed at the apartment complex by someone who either lives there or who has regular access to it. so far, though, they have no suspect in the child's death. last night georgia state patrol troopers conducted road blocks outside the apartment complex, as you can see there from this video. they are trying to generate more leads. if anybody has any information about this little girl's death you're asked to call the canton police. the number is (770)721-7852. there is a $15,000 reward available for any information. if you want to call anonymously you can do that too. that reward is for any information that leads to an arrest in this case. back to you. jenna: let's hope they find whoever did this. rick. thank you. jon: well it's a big prize for iran, the secret u.s. unmanned drone that ended up off course is now apparently in the hands of the iranian military.

the cia typically uses these stealth aircraft for secret missions, so what might the iranians learn from this highly sophisticated piece of our military hardware. major general james spider marks is retired from u.s. army intelligence, also a former intelligence officer who directed some of our intelligence and in fact some of our drone program during the gulf war, do i have that right, general marks? >> you're right, jon. jon: there are two questions here. if they have this technology are they going to be able to replicate it, and secondly what are they going to be able to learn about our technology, our capabilities from what they have. >> jon, several things that the iranians will walk away with. first of all i'm not sure and i'm not sure our intelligence community is absolutely certain the shape of that rq170, the unmanned aerial vehicle that the iranians now have. i don't know that it was shot down, that it crashed -- jon: they claim they shot it

down. >> right. so my point is, i don't know what shape it's in. but clearly stealth technology has been out there for a while. we have some incredible r & d, research and development capabilities. we would have to assume that not everything that we have on that aircraft is new or hasn't already been exploit ned som exploited in some way or that that technology doesn't exist in somebody else's hand. the iranians can do the exploitation, the reverse engineering. they might ask the chinese to participate in that, they have a relationship with those guys. the key concern in my mind is what was the sensor that was on that aircraft? was it sending pictures, sending full motion video, was it doing signals, intelligence, picking up different types of signals, cell phones, et cetera? i'm not sure. that we should be concerned about, that could be a significant loss. jon: on the night back last spring when the navy seals raided that compound and got

osama bin laden the white house was able to essentially watch it in realtime because there were drones overhead somewhere feeding back video, feeding back signals. this is the kind of drone that might have been able to do that kind of mission, right? >> jon, this is the drone that would perform that mission, and this is exactly why this aircraft exists. it can hide in plain sight and it can do some amazing things. and we have increased not only in the war fighters desires, but also all of us, we have this youtube desire to see it all, full motion video, full frames all the time, and so you have the ability of our commander-in-chief to watch over the shoulder of the seals conduct th-g operation without being intrusive. the president wasn't intrusive but he was there, he was present and he could see it. also intelligence as you know is conducted in layers, and with redundancy. so if an aircraft is lost or

loses link you have a satellite that might be able to provide a similar capability or multiple aircraft. so, very, very capable systems that we have. what concerns me again is what can our enemies and potential enemies learn from the way that we employ these systems. jon: it's not so much the reverse engineering of the technology, the stealth technology as happened with that stealth helicopter that went down in the osama bin laden raid, that is believed to have been sort of examined by the chinese. it's not that that worries you so much as what they learn about our abilities on board those craft. >> well absolutely, jon and also we should be very concerned, and i know we are. i've got to tell you there is an army of folks that are just sifting through all the data attendant to this catastrophe that just occurred and they are figuring out through after action reviews what went wrong. if the iranians were able to shoot this aircraft down, i'm not presuming they did, but if

they were, what type of air defense ambush was in place, what did the iranians do that has not been done before that would give them this success. we'll learn from that as well. jon: thank you, general. >> thanks, jon. jenna: this story took place in california. police say he ordered as many as 60 murders, six-zero. the leader of a notorious gang who was on death row for more than a decade just had his conviction overturned because of an error by the judge. could he end up going free? we are going to talk about this case coming up. plus a battle over tax cuts. we're going to talk to senator rand paul about the price tag for those tax cuts, who would pay, and are they worth it? next. [ male announcer ] cranberry juice? wake up! ♪ that's good morning, veggie style. hmmm [ male announcer ] for half the calories -- plus veggie nutrition.

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jon: fox news alert, and would you want this job? our american ambassador to syria is going back to work there. ambassador robert ford who left that country october 24th over concerns about his safety is heading back to syria. this is some video from back when he was still there. his suv getting pounded on by some of the syrian protesters. they are actually protesting their government, but there are always intermingled agents of bashar al-assad's regime in the streets.

the u.s. government brought him back because of that. robert ford will be our eyes and ears on the ground in syria. he will be supporting the demonstrators as they try to force their leader, bashar al-assad out of office. we wish him well. air force one touching down a few minutes ago in kansas. it's a solid republican state where president obama will push to extend and expand his payroll tax holiday. he blames republicans for blocking a deal that would keep more money in the pockets of most americans. there is a big debate over how to pay for the plan. joining us on capitol hill, republican senator rand paul of kentucky. extending the payroll tax, senator rand, you have said it's not -- extending the payroll tax holiday, you say it's not necessarily a good idea. why? >> social security is $6 trillion short of money, so the president is advocating reducing the funding to social security when they are already

$6 trillion short. it doesn't make any sense and it really argues that he's going to bankrupt social security even quicker by reducing its funding. jon: because the payroll taxes fund social security, correct? >> right. we are already short. we are short of money, because there are less workers and morey tireees more retirees. we have all the baby boomers retiring, what is he doing, he's reducing the money for retiring. it's a quick fix like you'd give to a junky. give people a couple hundred dollars and say, go to the mall, everything will be okay. really we need economic growth, we need the engine of the private sector creating millions of jobs and this isn't going to do it. jon: the white house trotted out a couple of fancy monitors, flatscreens next to presidential spokesman jay carney yesterday. at the time it showed the 26 days until the -- i guess 25 days until the payroll tax increases and the president is

saying, middle class americans will see their taxes rise by a thousand dollars if republicans, and that includes you in the senate, don't pass some kind of an extension. clearly it's a political bid, isn't it? >> it is. and we also actually had our alternative to it, i did vote for the republican alternative, which would have done means testing for millionaires benefits for medicare and would have paid for it through a hiring freeze in the federal government and freezing federal pay. if you'll cut spending, cut federal spending to pay for this tax reduction, even though it's not the best idea for social security i actually would go along with it if it were paid for in a responsible way. jon: have democrats -- democrats have said that there is a compromise proposal that they have come up with, but i haven't heard too many republicans say that they have seen the details. have you? >> i haven't heard my phone ringing, so if the democrats want a compromise they haven't reached out to any republicans that i know of. jon: isn't that the essence of

compromise? you've got to kind of bounce a ball become and forth between both sides? >> you would think so. actually while i think it's a bad idea to reduce the funding for social security, i am willing to look at a compromise if it's paid for responsibly. we did put up, the republicans put up a proposal that would have paid for it through a freeze in hiring, a freeze in federal pay, and means testing for millionaires for medicare, and i think that is a more responsible way than what the democrats are proposing. jon: i guess we'll see what the proposal is. maybe when you find out about it, please let us know. >> all right. jon: republican senator rand paul from kentucky, thank you. jenna: we have new information about a convicted gang leader in california who is now off death row. the california supreme court tossing out the murder conviction as well as death sentence for the man on your screen. his name is cleamon johnson. he goes by the nickname big evil. prosecutors say johnson was

involved in dozens of murders. there was something that the judge did in this case that caused this to happen. so we brought in our own judge, judge napolitano to talk more about this. this guy has been on death row for 15 years. what was presented, or what new happened that caused his sentence to be overturned? >> that is what is so unfortunate about this case. you have someone who was convicted of a crime in 1991, and has been in jail since 1991, and now he is legally innocent. so he gave 20 years of his life for a crime that the court says he hasn't been convicted of. the other case that's 20 years old, what was the reason for which this conviction was overturned? because the trial judge at the time of the trial excluded a juror because of something the juror said. it wasn't like they discovered dna, somebody else's dna at the murder scene, this is something they knew about 20 years ago at the time of the trial. jenna: this is during deliberations. >> where he. jenna: the case had gone by, the

jurors were deliberating and the judge was told something by other jurors in this case. as a judge why would you remove anyone any way? >> you would remove someone from a deliberating jury if a person was disrupting the jury, or if the person went out and did their own investigation, or if the person revealed to the other 11 jurors that they had actually made up their mind on guilt or in sense before the trial was concluded. in this case the deliberating juror said some things which were equivocal, meaning you could interpret it one way or another, but the state of california took 20 years to decide the meaning of what that juror said. that should have been ruled on right away. and you wouldn't have had this 20-year gap between conviction and reversal. jenna: this is not typical, though. when you're looking at the courts in california, 50 death sentences in a row upholding near bee 50 of them the california supreme court overturned this. so is this just a one off or is there something systemic in the court system whether in california or otherwise where this can happen.

>> it's a great question. the court system is slow. you really get in line to get your case heard. you only jump over others in the case of an emergency. 20 years on death row, only california is that long. the average tenure of persons on death row between conviction and either execution or natural death is 16 years. there is no other state in the union that is so slow. jenna: 16 years is still a longtime. do you agree with the overturning of this? did the judge do something wrong in your mind. >> yes, the judge did something wrong but this should have been overturned 19 years ago, not now. now the government has to go back and find witnesses and find evidence, and try this case all over again. jenna: will they do that do you think? >> yes they will. this is a conviction for multiple murders. the government would be remiss if they set him free. jenna: there was two men involved in this case. one of them will stay behind bars. he's convicted on a separate murder. the man you continue to see on our screen he doesn't have any other convictions and according to blis police he was responsible for ordering 60

killings in the 80s and 90s, particularly a bad time for gangs in l.a. does he get to walk out free? >> theoretically but the government will ask for no bail. it is typical that no bail be granted when you're facing the death penalty, because you have the utmost incentive to flee. he won't get bail, he'll stay right where he was. he'll be moved to a different jail where they put people who have not yet been convicted of a crime even though he was convicted 20 years ago. this is literally jenna an only in california for re. jenna: we also hav california. jenna: we have the overcrowding also. you can watch the judge every night, 8pm and 11pm on the fox business network. thank you. jon: bring him to new jersey, let the judge sentence him here. a rally to remember the shooting death of a student turns into a riot, demonstrators throwing molotov cocktails, police respond with teargas. we'll have more of this amazing video straight ahead. dad, why are you getting that? is there a prize in there?

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jenna: we want to update you on what is happening over in russia today. this is becoming a more elevated situation in moscow. you had huge demonstrations happening yesterday and continuing into today. people demonstrating against alleged voter fraud on a vote they had in russia. we told you earlier we had reports from the associated press of a fire bomb being thrown into the crowd. now we're being told it's something along the lines of fireworks. you're seeing a lot of tension in moscow. they say they are sending troops in as well to different parts of the country to quell some of these protests. we'll continue to keep you updated. obviously demonstrations on going in russia as they try to bring in the new government, the new government quote unquote of vladimir putin in charge again. we'll bring you up to date as we hear more. jon: the search for a missing orlando mother is expanding. we are getting new information

that volunteers are heading to daytona beach to follow-up on a tip. michelle parker vanished the same day as she and her ex-husband -- exi should say appeared on an episode of the people's court. he is considered a prime suspect but has not been arrested or charged. her family is now calling on him to take a lie detector test. phil keating live in miami with more. >> reporter: hi, jon. the family, the parents in particular of missing woman michelle parker now really turning up the volume and the heat, at least out of their mouths regarding the number one suspect, the exfiance of their daughter. i spoke on the phone this morning with brad parker, michelle parker's father and he is no longer feigning being polite or neutral regarding dale smith the ii. he wants him to call him on his cellphone, confess what happened and at least take the polygraph test. i quote from the conversation, quote dale, he ain't called e. won't take a lie detector test, come forward tell the truth.

if he comes clean it takes some pressure off him. he's not even looking for michelle. dale smith and his attorney in orlando maintain his innocence, though and say lie detector tests are not reliable as u.s. courts have held. despite a history of domestic violence they awarded the prime suspect custody of he and michelle parker's three-year-old twins. at that hearing smith pushed a local tv photographer right to the sidewalk. parker's family is meeting at a bar outside of orlando every morning where she bartended. her mother and volunteers car pooled to daytona beach to follow-up on a tip there. her parents have remained publicly neutral regarding smith. that is now over. regarding smith's anger issues brad parker says, quote, once he started drinking he turned into a, well fill in the blank. very similar accusations made over the weekend by the parents

and family of one of smith's previous wives who died while smith was serving prison time for a domestic violence and drug conviction in that case. that led the military to give him a dishonorable discharge. as to why no arrest in this case has been made, specifically smith, within the past hour the orlando police department telling me without any evidence or any clues other than this is a missing person's case, well they can't make any arrest here until they get some strength in their evidence. back to you, jon. jon: the family of michelle parker still hurting. phil keating, thanks. jenna: we have customers hurting, their money missing and now a bankruptcy, one of the largest in our history when it comes to financial firms. new allegations against this man who was this charge of mf global. did john corzine ignore warnings, warning signs that his company was going belly-up?

jon: new allegations now that former mf global chief and former governor of new jersey, john corzine ignored warnings about the financial risks his firm was taking by investing in european bonds. the former governor is expected to appear before a house subcommittee, or committee i should say on thursday. doug mckelway is watching that from washington. >> reporter: for weeks now since mf global declared bankruptcy and hundreds of millions of dollars in customer funds went missing its ceo former democratic senator john corzine has been virtually invisible. that is going to change when he's forced to appear before the house agriculture committee under subpoenas. committee members will be armed with new questions after a story saying that corzine and the directors of mf global were repeatedly warned by the

company's chief risk officer that corzine's interest on betting on europe's sovereign debt was fraught with risk. according to the journal they allowed mf global's exposure to balloon from $1.5 billion to 6.3 billion just before -ts companbefore the company declared ban bankruptcy. they say the circumstances are unprecedented. many constituents have lost tpupdz and confidence in futures in derivative markets which are under the jurisdiction of our committee. as if to prove this is no partisan witch hunt the democratic chairman of the senate's agricultural committee announced today that her committee will vote this afternoon whether to also subpoena corzine for its december 13th hearing. all this while it's also come to light that former president bill clinton's advisory firm was paid

$50,000 a month to advice corzine on improving his image. mf global's board ended that five-month contract with clinton's firm after corzine resigned. jon. jon: wow. a former senator, former governor on the hot seat. doug mckelway. thank you. "happening now" will be right back. hey, the new guy is loaded with protein! really? 25 grams of protein. what do we have? all four of us, together? 24. he's low fat, too, and has 5 grams of sugars. i'll believe it when i--- [ both ] oooooh... what's shakin'? [ female announcer ] as you get older, protein is an important part of staying active and strong. new ensure high protein... fifty percent of your daily value of protein. low fat and five grams of sugars. see? he's a good egg. [ major nutrition ] new ensure hh protein. ensure! nutrition in charge!

jenna: chatter have anything interesting to say today. jon: chat was on fire today, it really was. jenna: you can talk to us during the show, go to foxnews.com/"happening now." jon is always over there. there is a whole side still going on. jon: i try to keep up with rick, that's the problem. jenna: it's fun, we appreciate hearing from you. and thank you for joining us, everybody. jon: "america live" starts right now. megyn: fox news alert, new questions today as we wait for president obama to take the stage this hour in kansas and deliver what he calls a make-or-break speech for america's middle class. welc